Wikipedia Article About Glycerin on Wikipedia Glycerol, also well known as glycerin and glycerine, and less commonly as propane-1,2,3-triol, 1,2,3-propanetriol, 1,2,3-trihydroxypropane, glyceritol, and glycyl alcohol is a colorless, odorless, hygroscopic, and sweet-tasting viscous liquid. Glycerol is a sugar alcohol and has three hydrophilic alcoholic hydroxyl groups (-OH) that are responsible for its solubility in water. Glycerol is prochiral. Glycerol is used in glycerol soap, in cosmetics and creams, in foods, in chemistry, and in glycerol fog machine mist. Glycerol is produced from dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) by the enzyme glycerol three-phosphate dehydrogenase (Gpd p) in the mitochondrion of the eukaryotic cell during glycolysis.